Immunology of Infectious Disease News Volume 5.48 | Dec 6 2017

TOP STORY

Gene-Based Zika Vaccine Is Safe and Immunogenic in Healthy Adults

Results from two Phase I clinical trials show an experimental Zika vaccine developed by government scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, is safe and induces an immune response in healthy adults. [Press release from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases discussing online prepublication in The Lancet] Press Release | Full Article

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Preliminary Aggregate Safety and Immunogenicity Results from Three Trials of a Purified Inactivated Zika Virus Vaccine Candidate: Phase I, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trials

The authors developed a purified formalin-inactivated Zika virus vaccine candidate that showed protection in mice and non-human primates against viremia after Zika virus challenge. They present the preliminary results in human beings. [Lancet] Full Article | Press Release

Host DNases Prevent Vascular Occlusion by Neutrophil Extracellular Traps

Scientists investigated which host factors control neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in vivo and found that two deoxyribonucleases (DNases), DNase1 and DNase1-like 3, degraded NETs in circulation during sterile neutrophilia and septicemia. In the absence of both DNases, intravascular NETs formed clots that obstructed blood vessels and caused organ damage. [Science] Abstract

Migrating Platelets Are Mechano-Scavengers that Collect and Bundle Bacteria

Investigators identified an unappreciated asset of platelets and showed that adherent platelets use adhesion receptors to mechanically probe the adhesive substrate in their local microenvironment. Microbe collection by migrating platelets boosted the activity of professional phagocytes, exacerbating inflammatory tissue injury in sepsis. [Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

White Adipose Tissue Is a Reservoir for Memory T Cells and Promotes Protective Memory Responses to Infection

Researchers showed that at steady state, white adipose tissue contained abundant memory lymphocyte populations. After infection, white adipose tissue accumulated large numbers of pathogen-specific memory T cells, including tissue-resident cells. [Immunity] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

Antibiotic-Induced Changes to the Host Metabolic Environment Inhibit Drug Efficacy and Alter Immune Function

The authors quantified local metabolic changes in the host microenvironment following antibiotic treatment for a peritoneal Escherichia coli infection. Antibiotic treatment elicited microbiome-independent changes in local metabolites, but not those distal to the infection site, by acting directly on host cells. [Cell Host Microbe] Abstract | Press Release | Graphical Abstract

Pandemic H1N1 Influenza A Viruses Suppress Immunogenic RIPK3-Driven Dendritic Cell Death

Investigators showed that dendritic cell (DC) infection with seasonal influenza A virus (IAV) causes immunogenic RIPK3-mediated cell death. Pandemic IAV suppressed this immunogenic DC cell death. In vivo, circulating T cell levels are reduced after pandemic, but not seasonal, IAV infection. [Nat Commun] Full Article

Influence of an Immunodominant Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 CD8⁺ T Cell Epitope on the Target Hierarchy and Function of Subdominant CD8⁺ T Cells

In C57BL/6 mice, herpes simplex virus type 1 induced a highly skewed CD8⁺ T cell repertoire, in which half of CD8⁺ T cells recognized a single epitope on glycoprotein B, while the remainder recognized, in varying proportions, 19 subdominant epitopes on 12 viral proteins. [PLoS Pathog] Full Article

Mouse Papillomavirus Infection Persists in Mucosal Tissues of an Immunocompetent Mouse Strain and Progresses to Cancer

Scientists examined mucosal infection in several immunocompetent and immunocompromised mouse strains. NOD/SCID mice, which have a deficiency in T, B, and NK cells, showed minimal disease at cutaneous sites but developed persistent infection at the mucosal sites including those of the anogenital region and the oral cavity. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Neonatal Neutrophils Stimulated by Group B Streptococcus Induce a Proinflammatory T-Helper Cell Bias

The authors hypothesized that group B Streptococcus (GBS)–stimulated neonatal neutrophils provide a milieu that may drive proinflammatory T-helper cell programming. GBS–stimulated neutrophils released soluble mediators that induced greater IL-17 responses in neonatal vs. adult CD4⁺ T cells in the absence of added polarizing cytokines. [Pediatr Res] Abstract

Sustained T Follicular Helper Cell Response Is Essential for Control of Chronic Viral Infection

Using chronic lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection in conjunction with an in vivo system where T follicular helper (T_FH) cells can be conditionally ablated, researchers established that these T_FH cells do in fact play an important protective function. [Sci Immunol] Full Article

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Innate Immune Control of Alphavirus Infection

The authors discuss the current understanding of innate host sensors that initiate antiviral responses following alphavirus infection, and the type I interferon-induced effector proteins that limit alphavirus replication and dissemination. [Curr Opin Virol] Full Article

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Sanofi Updates Information on Dengue Vaccine

Based on up to six years of clinical data, the new analysis evaluated long-term safety and efficacy of Dengvaxia in people who had been infected with dengue prior to vaccination and those who had not. The analysis confirmed that Dengvaxia provides persistent protective benefit against dengue fever in those who had prior infection. For those not previously infected by dengue virus, however, the analysis found that in the longer term, more cases of severe disease could occur following vaccination upon a subsequent dengue infection. [Sanofi] Press Release

Sanofi Ends Development of Clostridium difficile Vaccine

Following a planned interim analysis, the Independent Data Monitoring Committee for the Phase III Cdiffense clinical trial program concluded that the probability that the study will meet its primary objective is low. Based on this, Sanofi has therefore decided to discontinue clinical development of its experimental C. difficile vaccine, to focus on six key vaccine projects currently in development. [Sanofi] Press Release

NIH and Partners Launch HIV Vaccine Efficacy Study

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and partners have launched a large clinical trial to assess whether an experimental HIV vaccine regimen is safe and able to prevent HIV infection. The new Phase IIb proof-of-concept study, called Imbokodo, aims to enroll 2,600 HIV-negative women in sub-Saharan Africa. [National Institutes of Health] Press Release 1 | Press Release 2

NIH Launches HIV Prevention Trial of Long-Acting Injectable Medication in Sexually Active Women

The first large-scale clinical trial of a long-acting injectable medication for HIV prevention in sexually active women has begun. The study in southern and eastern Africa will examine whether a long-acting form of the investigational anti-HIV drug cabotegravir injected once every eight weeks can safely protect women at risk for HIV infection. [National Institutes of Health] Press Release

Johnson & Johnson and Partners Announce First Efficacy Study for Investigational Mosaic HIV-1 Preventive Vaccine

Johnson & Johnson announced that its Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies together with a consortium of global partners have initiated the first efficacy study for an investigational mosaic HIV-1 preventive vaccine. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and National Institutes of Health are joining forces with Johnson & Johnson to advance the potential prevention option, which is designed to be a “global vaccine” that could prevent a wide range of viral strains responsible for the HIV pandemic. [Janssen Global Services, LLC] Press Release

AgriLabs^® Develops Master Seeds for Adenovirus Vectored Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccines

AgriLabs announced that it has developed a set of master seeds for a replication-deficient human adenovirus vector that expresses select genes for several different serotypes of foot-and-mouth disease virus. [Agri Laboratories Ltd] Press Release

Biohackers Disregard FDA Warning on DIY Gene Therapy

Despite a warning from the federal government about do-it-yourself (DIY) gene therapy, two companies say they’ll continue offering DNA-altering materials to the public. The companies, The Odin and Ascendance Biomedical, both recently posted videos online of people self-administering DNA molecules their labs had produced. [MIT Technology Review] Editorial

Trump Science Job Nominees Missing Advanced Science Degrees

When it comes to filling jobs dealing with complex science, environment, and health issues, the Trump administration is nominating people with fewer science academic credentials than their Obama predecessors. And it’s moving slower as well. [STAT News] Editorial

Hundreds of German Universities Set to Lose Access to Elsevier Journals

Around 200 German universities will lose their subscriptions to Elsevier journals within weeks, because negotiations have failed to end a long-term contract dispute. [Nature News] Editorial

NEW Gordon Research Conferences: Chemotactic Cytokines
June 3-8, 2018
Newry, Maine, United States

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NEW Professor – Bacterial-Host Interactions (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

Scientist – Immunology (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

Research Technologist – Immunotherapy (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

PhD Position – Human Influenza Vaccines (University of Bergen)

Postdoctoral Scientist – Innate Immunity/Host-Pathogen Interactions (Rutgers New Jersey Medical School)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Immunology (Brigham & Women’s Hospital – Harvard Medical School)

Postdoctoral Position – Molecular Mechanisms of Microbial Interactions with Host Cells and Tissues (Institut Pasteur)

Assistant/Associate Professor – Immunology and Infectious Diseases (Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Mucosal Infections (University of Utah)

Assistant Professor – Mammalian Virology (University of California, Riverside)

Postdoctoral Position – Immune Responses against HIV (DIACCURATE)

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